Michael Fennell - The Art Of Smoke [Pic]

Youd be forgiven for believing this artists work is a series of black and white photographs - but theyre actually created using smoke. Michael Fennell, 43, became interested in smoke as an art tool around 15 years ago, having initially become intrigued by the marks carbon made on his studio floor. He decided to see if he could make similar style markings on a canvas, using a candle as his brush, and with no initial drawing for his first experimental piece, the potential for the medium of smoke painting soon became apparent.

Michael works in two media: oil paint, and a medium he has created, pioneered and developed over 12 years: smoke.

No, they`re not. Smoke is "the visible vapor and gases given off by a burning or smoldering substance, especially the gray, brown, or blackish mixture of gases and suspended carbon particles resulting from the combustion of wood, peat, coal, or other organic matter."

Those "suspended carbon particles" are the soot. It is possible to have smoke without soot, and soot without smoke, so how can they be the same thing?